Adjust your computer’s power settings. Turn your computer off, or into standby or hibernation, when you’re not using it.  You can easily change the power settings (in the Control Panel of Windows) to help conserve electricity.  A computer can drain a lot of electricity, even when not in use.

Unplug unused electronics. Even when turned off or in sleep mode, electronics such as printers, TVs, radios, etc. use electricity.  Unplug unused items, or use a timer to turn items on and off during the times when not in use.

Print on recycled paper. Recycled paper is becoming as inexpensive as normal paper, but be sure to check the percentage of recycled materials used - sometimes it’s only 10%!

Use a laser printer. If you print a significant amount, invest in a laser printer.  The prices have come down a lot in the past few years, and while the toner is expense, it lasts a very long time.  Laser printers are much more efficient (and cost effective) than ink jet printers!

Recycle your ink and toner cartridges. Printer cartridges contain several very toxic chemicals that can contaminate groundwater when disposed of in a landfill, plus they’re made from non-biodegradable products such as plastic.  Several office supply stores and printer manufacturers offer recycling programs.

Print wisely. If you don’t have to print something, don’t.  How often do you really look at those e-mails, PowerPoint slides, PDFs, etc. that you printed?  If you must print something, consider printing on both sides of the paper (even if you have to flip it by hand) and printing on scrap paper.

Create documents wisely. Just because Word’s default margins are 1” it doesn’t mean you can’t change them.  Smaller margins free up a lot of space in documents, as does a smaller font size.  Next time you make a document, play around with the program’s settings to see how much space you can save.

Reuse and recycle paper. Don’t throw away a document just because you’re finished with it.  Keep the used paper in a folder to print upon for rough drafts and internal documents (who cares what’s on the back side?)  Scrap paper can also be cut up and used as note sheets, and shredded documents are great packing materials.  If you have no further use out of a piece of paper, recycle it.

Tags: computers | green | small business